


Goin' Steady

by Maiden_of_Asgard



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Avengers Tower, Bucky Barnes Fluff, F/M, Secret Relationship, Tumblr Ask Box Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:41:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23540245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maiden_of_Asgard/pseuds/Maiden_of_Asgard
Summary: S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t want you to get close to Bucky Barnes. You don’t really care what S.H.I.E.L.D. wants, though.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader
Comments: 16
Kudos: 232





	Goin' Steady

Is it a terrible idea to ask one James Buchanan Barnes on a second date, even after the first one ended in disaster?

Probably.

Are you going to do it anyway?

Absolutely.

The trick, this time, is to make sure that nobody at S.H.I.E.L.D. figures things out. You hadn’t realized that going out for coffee with former enemy assassins was such a big deal, but you’d quickly realized the error of your ways when a bunch of stern-faced suits swarmed to ‘escort’ you to ‘safety.’

And you’d only  _ just _ managed to get a hesitant smile out of Bucky Barnes. 

S.H.I.E.L.D. always has the worst possible timing. It’s almost like they take pride in inconveniencing anyone and everyone who has anything to do with Stark Enterprises - pretty petty for an elite, secret worldwide law enforcement agency, in your humble opinion.

Stark Tower tends to be crawling with agents and S.H.I.E.L.D.-affiliated employees who like to report everything you do that isn’t exactly up to their code of conduct, so it takes you a little while to come up with a good plan for how to intercept Sergeant Barnes without anyone paying too much attention. He spends a great deal of time in the gym, but so do half of the other Avengers and agents, so you’re wary of strolling up and asking him to go out with you again while he’s on the treadmill.

Ambushing him in the stairwell doesn’t seem like that bad of a plan when the idea first occurs to you, but when you end up pinned against the bannister with a knife at your throat, it occurs to you that former enemy assassins probably aren’t the best people to surprise. 

“Sorry,” he says, immediately tucking the blade away in its sheath. He doesn’t step back, though, and you remember just how disappointing it had been when your first date hadn’t had the opportunity to end with a goodnight kiss. “Instinct.”

“Dangerous instincts you got there, Sergeant Barnes.”

The corner of his lip curls. “Not dangerous enough to keep you away, apparently. Didn’t you get the lecture?”

“I don’t like being lectured.” You chew on your lip for a moment, wondering if the abrupt end to your first date had bothered him, too. “So, what did S.H.I.E.L.D. include in  _ your _ lecture?”

“Staying away from the sweet little civilian engineer might’ve been mentioned a time or two.”

“One of those suits called me sweet?” you ask, your eyes narrowing. “I’m skeptical.”

“I might be adding a little of my own commentary. What was in the talk they gave you?”

“That you’re a dangerous, unstable asset. A security threat. Things like that.” 

“And here you are,” Bucky says, searching your face.

“Yeah,” you reply. “Here I am.” Your fingers curl around the railing behind you. When he looks at you like he’s looking at you right now… “I thought maybe we could try that date again sometime?”

He laughs, then, his icy composure broken. “You really want to spend more time with me, after the way things went last time?”

“Of course I do. Don’t you?”

Voices echo up from one of the landings somewhere below, and he takes a guilty step back. “I usually don’t do the things I want to do.”

“We can be  _ sneaky,” _ you tell him. “I mean, you’re supposedly good at being sneaky, right? I was thinking maybe we could just have dinner at my place, something low-key.” He doesn’t answer immediately, so you figure you need to turn up the charm. “C’mon, Sargeant, you aren’t really afraid of a few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, are you?”

“No,” he replies, clearly amused, “but you probably should be.”

“My place, tonight. Seven o’clock, okay?” 

You brush past him as you head up the stairs. Bucky Barnes strikes you as the kind of man who enjoys having to do some chasing, so you’re going to let him. If he wants you… he can come and get you.

“You aren’t going to tell me where you live?” he calls after you, and you smile to yourself before you turn to answer him. 

“You’re supposed to be some kind of secret agent, aren’t you? Figure it out.”

~

You very nearly throw a kitchen knife at Bucky Barnes when he silently slides in the window of your living room window like a shadow, and you do let out a very blood-curdling yell before you realize that it’s him. “How the hell did you get in here?” you demand. “I’m on the sixth floor!”

His eyes don’t leave the knife in your hand. “It kind of falls under my area of expertise,” he says. “What’s for dinner?”

“Chicken alfredo. Pasta is kinda my go-to.” You try not to fidget as his gaze slowly slides down your body. Maybe the cutesy apron is a bit much. Maybe it’s too obvious that you’re trying to tease his old-timeyness. “I wasn’t sure that you’d come.”

Bucky takes a seat at one of the stools on the other side of your kitchen counter. “I think you knew that I would.”

“I  _ hoped,” _ you admit, “and I was going to be pretty pissed if I got all dolled up for nothing, but I thought you might not think it was worth the trouble.”

“Do you really think getting into your place counts as ‘trouble,’  _ doll?” _ he teases. “You’d be so easy to take out. This place has almost no security - why haven’t you moved into Stark Tower?”

“I like being independent. Besides, who would bother trying to take me out?” You turn to the fridge, hoping that he can’t tell that you  _ like _ it when he makes jokes about being an assassin, because that’s probably an oddity best kept hidden. “Want something to drink?”

“Water’s fine.”

“I can’t believe you actually came in through the window,” you tell him as you slide the glass across the countertop. “What if someone saw?”

“I can guarantee you that they didn’t,” he says. “I have the reputation I do for a reason.”

“So, why’d you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Hunt me down and climb in my window. Why’d you go to the effort, Bucky?”

“I’m probably sweet on you,” Bucky says, watching you over the edge of his glass as you try to gracefully drain your pasta without spilling it everywhere. “That’s what Steve says.”

You nearly drop the colander. “Steve… You told Captain America that you were coming here?”

He shrugs. “I needed advice.”

“What kind of advice?”

“He’s a little more in-touch with what things are like these days. Can’t believe I’m saying that, but it’s true.”

The fact that Bucky Barnes is avoiding your gaze is telling; he only does that when he’s feeling unsure of himself, from what you’ve seen. “Be more specific.”

“I was gonna bring flowers,” he says. “Steve said that might be a bit much. Apparently, dating is a lot more  _ casual _ these days than the way I remember it.”

“I mean, secret dates where you have to scale buildings under the cover of night probably counts as a bit much, too,” you say. “Don’t you think?”

“I guess you’ve got a point there.” His smile is small, a little uncertain. “So, flowers, next time?”

Your face feels a little warm. He’s already thinking about next time? “I do like flowers.”

“Okay,” Bucky says. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

~

“Ooh, pretty,” your friend Allie says, leaning over your desk to admire the pot full of daisies sitting by your computer. “Where’d you get those?”

“No idea,” you tell her, trying to sound genuinely perplexed. “They were already here this morning.”

“A secret admirer? That’s exciting.”

“Yeah,” you say, smiling at the happy, bright little blossoms soaking up the sun. “It really is.”

~

Seeing Bucky Barnes appear in your window always makes your stomach do little flips. Seeing Bucky Barnes appear in your window wearing a suit and tie… that makes the little flutters much more difficult to ignore. You fidget as he closes the window behind him, smoothing away imaginary wrinkles in your cocktail dress. 

“I seriously thought you’d think this was too silly,” you tell him.

“Have I ever turned you down before?” he asks. “We  _ could _ actually go to the gala, if you wanted. We could cause some drama, leave it up to Stark to brawl with S.H.I.E.L.D. if they try to ruin our night.”

“I think  _ you’d _ just like an excuse to brawl with S.H.I.E.L.D.”

He cracks a smile. “Maybe. I haven’t had a good fight in a while.”

“I’d rather just dance with you and avoid the fighting, if it’s all the same to you.” 

Sure, it would be  _ nice _ to stroll into the charity gala at Stark Tower with Bucky at your side, dressed to the nines and flaunting the fact that you’ve gotten the handsome, somewhat-menacing Winter Soldier to dance with you. At the end of the day, though, it’s enough to get the chance to dance with him at all. You’ve got your living room decked out with some old Christmas lights, there are sparkly drinks and hors d'oeuvres on the kitchen counter, and you’ve carefully crafted a playlist to set the mood.

“It’s been a long time since I asked anyone to dance,” Bucky says, standing stiffly in the middle of your living room. “Believe it or not, I used to be decent at it.”

“I can believe it.” 

You turn on the music and add a little bit of an extra sashay to your steps as you approach him; you’d felt a little silly putting on heels for a fancy pretend-gala in your apartment, but you’re enjoying the extra swagger they give you. Plus, it’s an extra excuse to lean against Bucky for balance, since heels aren’t exactly your forte. You delicately rest your hands on his shoulders, a little surprised when he immediately puts his hands on your waist and pulls you closer. 

_ Kiss me, _ you think, blushing as he twirls you around the room. You can’t tell what he’s thinking, but the fact that he’s here at all  _ must _ mean that he likes you, right? But it’s been weeks since your first weird secret date, and he still hasn’t made a move.

“What do you think would happen?” you ask him. Hesitantly, you rest your cheek against his chest. His fingers flex, and you briefly entertain the notion that he’s fighting the urge to throw you onto the couch and kiss you senseless. “If people knew that we spend so much time together, I mean?”

“It would be dangerous,” he says, “but you already know that.”

“Yeah.” You close your eyes. He’s always smelled nice, but you’ve never been close enough to really enjoy it. “You’re right.”

His voice is a little rough when he whispers in your ear, and it sends shivers down your spine. “I like the dress.”

“I like the tie,” you tell him. “The blue goes with your eyes.”

Bucky laughs. “You wouldn’t be trying to sweet-talk me, would you?”

“I’m  _ absolutely _ trying to sweet-talk you, Sarge.”

“Good luck, doll. I’m nearly impossible to crack.”

“That’s okay,” you say, leaning into him as his hand smooths up your bare back. “I like challenges.”

~

Another Friday night, and you’ve got another ‘date’ with Bucky Barnes… who seems impressively persistent in his ability to resist the thick sexual tension that only grows worse every time you bump into him at work. You’re starting to get frustrated, but at the same time, you can imagine why he’s hesitant. 

It isn’t exactly an ideal situation. 

You shower and kick back on the couch, tired after a long day at work. You’ve been more and more stressed lately about someone at the Tower catching on to your clandestine… whatever it is. A secret almost-relationship, maybe? A friendship with a dash of unresolved pining? He admitted to being ‘sweet’ on you. He talked about  _ dating _ you…

Maybe it just has to stay a secret, and he’s worried that getting physical will make it that much worse.

You wake up on your couch, nearly screeching from surprise when you discover a shadowy figure sitting on the chair across from you. 

“Sorry,” Bucky says hurriedly, jumping up to turn on the light. “You said to get here at eight tonight, but you looked tired, so I didn’t want to wake you up.”

You rub the sleep from your eyes, enjoying the way he subtly checks you out when you languidly stretch. “What time is it now?”

He looks a little mortified. “...midnight.”

“You just… watched me sleep for four hours?”

“Yeah,” he says. 

“Kinda an odd way to pass an evening, Buck.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you really gonna make me ask you  _ why _ you watched me sleep for four hours?” you ask him, prodding his ankle with your toes. 

He sighs, and he stares directly past your head, almost like he’s bracing himself to recite some kind of unpleasant mission report. “You were snoring,” he says. “It was… cute.”

_ Snoring? Great. _ “And you weren’t bored out of your mind?”

“It’s peaceful here. I like it.”

“Sorry I fell asleep before you got here. Want me to make us midnight dinner?”

“If you want,” he says, “but only if you’re hungry. I can wait until breakfast.”

“Are you implying that you think you’re going to still be here in the morning, Sargent?” you ask. You get up and head to your kitchen to hunt down some caffeine. If you’re going to entertain company into the wee hours of the morning, then some tea will probably help. “The  _ scandal.”  _

“It is kind of late to be sneaking back into the Tower.” He gets up and follows you, and there’s a little bit of purposeful determination in his stride. “Look,” he says, “I don’t want to seem too forward or anything, and crawling in your window is always a fun time—”

“But?”

“I want you to be my girl.”

You can’t hold back a smirk. “Is that so, Sergeant?”

He moves like lightning, caging you between his arms. The counter digs into your back, and the little rush of anticipation is exhilarating. “Yeah,” he says, “it is. I want to go steady, and I want you to move into the Tower, so I’ll know you’re safe. What do  _ you _ think about that, dollface?”

“I think I like seeing you climbing through my windows. It gives me a rush.”

“I can think of a few other ways to give you a rush, ways that don’t involve me scaling apartment buildings in the middle of the night.”

“Convince me,” you say, squaring your jaw and narrowing your eyes to make sure there’s no mistake that you’re challenging him. 

Bucky kisses you. 


End file.
